Written questions by Snowden.

Media and Sport, how many schools engaged with Historic England’s Heritage Schools Programme in each region in the most recent academic year for which data is available.

The most recent academic year for which DCMS holds data is September 2023 - July 2024. 582 schools have engaged with Historic England’s Heritage Schools Programme, with approximately 116,400 children participating. The regional breakdown is as follows:RegionNo. of schoolsApprox. no. of children benefittingEast9018,000Midlands22144,200North East & Yorkshire13527,000North West489,600South West8817,600Total582116,400 There was no delivery in London and the South East in the 2023-24 academic year, however Historic England are supporting Surrey Museums to run a Heritage Schools programme in their area this year.

Innovation and Technology, what steps is Ofcom taking to ensure telecommunications providers adhere to the Electronic Communications Code on the visual impact of broadband infrastructure.

The Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003 include a requirement for operators to minimise the impact on the visual amenity of properties as far as reasonably practicable when installing apparatus. It is Ofcom’s role as an independent regulator to investigate any complaints from local planning authorities about telegraph poles sited in a way which is not consistent with these requirements. Ofcom has in the past opened investigations into whether specific operators have failed to comply with their obligations when installing apparatus. These can be found on Ofcom’s enforcement page here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57447 on Local History: Education, how (a) local historians, (b) museums and (c) heritage organisations can contribute to (i) curriculum development and (ii) enrichment in local history education.

Schools determine which organisations they work with to support the teaching of local history. This can include local historians, museums and heritage organisations.The Curriculum and Assessment Review carried out extensive engagement with the education sector, including teachers, lecturers, leaders, civil society organisations, students and parents, through its Call for Evidence and roundtable events. This provided an opportunity for bodies and individuals with an interest in local history to contribute to the Review.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that (a) rural and (b) farming communities receive appropriate tailored mental health services.

Defra’s Mental Health in Agriculture team is working with experts across government and the third sector to improve mental and physical health outcomes for rural and agricultural communities. They are identifying requirements and developing options as to how they can further support DHSC and third sector investment in mental health interventions for those communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of air pollution in (a) Fylde and (b) other semi-rural areas; and what steps his Department is taking to help mitigate the impact of air pollution on public health.

Local authorities review and assess air quality in their areas and publish an annual report on their actions to improve local air quality including local monitoring data which is assessed by Defra. Fylde council have reported continued compliance with the Air Quality Objectives set by central Government and have an Air Quality Strategy in place aimed at further reducing pollution from key sources. Defra supports local authorities through the provision of clear detailed statutory guidance and a helpline provided via contractors. We also host the Air Quality Hub; a resource and knowledge-sharing platform for local authorities. The Government will publish a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet the ambitious Environment Act targets.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support local authorities to (a) monitor and (b) reduce particulate pollution in (i) residential and (ii) agricultural areas in Fylde.

Local authorities review and assess air quality in their areas and publish an annual report on their actions to improve local air quality including local monitoring data which is assessed by Defra. Fylde council have reported continued compliance with the Air Quality Objectives set by central Government and have an Air Quality Strategy in place aimed at further reducing pollution from key sources. Defra supports local authorities through the provision of clear detailed statutory guidance and a helpline provided via contractors. We also host the Air Quality Hub; a resource and knowledge-sharing platform for local authorities. The Government will publish a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, to protect and restore our natural environment with delivery information to help meet the ambitious Environment Act targets.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of reducing the price of a veterans’ railcard to that of an armed forces railcard.

There are no current plans to reduce the price of the Veterans’ Railcard. Any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy will require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway.

Communities and Local Government, how many projects received Community Ownership Fund funding in (a) Fylde constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) each NUTS region of the UK.

There are no Community Ownership Fund (COF) projects in the Fylde constituency. The Department awarded over £900k to three COF projects in the Lancashire County Council area. These projects are Whitworth Leisure Centre, Elmfield Hall and Mercer Hall. In each region, the Department awarded: £9.2m to 29 projects in the East Midlands.£5.6m to 22 projects in the East of England.£6.7m to 13 projects in London.£4.3m to 19 projects in the North East.£12.8m to 33 projects in the North West.£11m to 38 projects in Northern Ireland.around £21.2m to 55 projects in Scotland.£15.8m to 41 projects in the South East.£16.8m to 53 projects in the South West.around £9m to 31 projects in Wales.around £8.8m to 30 projects in the West Midlands.around £12.5m to 39 projects in Yorkshire and the Humber. A full breakdown of funding is available on the COF successful bidders page on GOV.UK.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle car theft in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

This Government is determined to reduce vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible. I have recently met the NPCC vehicle crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, as well as other law enforcement representatives and representatives from industry, to discuss how we work together to tackle these damaging crimes.Working with the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.In the Crime and Policing Bill we also have banned electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. This will support the changes manufacturers continue to make to ensure their vehicles as secure as possible.In addition, we provided £250,000 funding in the financial year 2024-25 to help support work at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including providing additional staff and specialist equipment.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 47125 of 22 April 2025 on Community Assets; Finance, what estimate she has made of the difference in funding availability; and what steps she is taking to ensure a smooth transition for communities relying on such support.

The government has now announced funding for up to 350 deprived communities, including the 75 places named in the Plan for Neighbourhoods in March 2025. 25 trailblazer neighbourhoods will receive up to £20 million over the next decade as part of a new fund announced at the Spending Review. Detailed guidance will be provided in due course; however, the programme will adopt a flexible approach offering areas a broad range of options to address the unique challenges in their local area. This could include funding for community assets such as youth clubs, libraries, and cultural venues. Areas will receive investment over the next decade, with funding starting from April 2026. Further information will be published in due course.

What discussions her Department has had with police forces on tackling phone theft.

The Home Secretary has been clear that tackling mobile phone theft is a priority. On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, local government representatives, leading technology companies and others to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves. The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, better understand the role of organised crime networks and identify the most effective means of tackling these crimes. The Home Office continues to regularly engage with the police and other stakeholders to progress work to tackle this criminality and the Home Secretary will reconvene this group shortly to agree further actions. Through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will place thousands of additional police officers and police community support officers in neighbourhood policing roles to provide a more visible and effective service to the public, with each neighbourhood having a named, contactable officer dealing with local issues, including the theft of mobile phones. In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geo-location tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to take steps to help support community groups to (a) maintain and (b) promote local (i) green and (ii) blue spaces in Fylde.

The government is committed to improving access to parks and green spaces for all, recognising their role in fostering stronger communities. Community groups are a key component in helping people to connect with their local parks through community engagement and volunteering. The government’s Green Flag Awards scheme sets quality standards for green spaces, focusing on community engagement, increased access, and addressing health and environmental priorities. There is a Green Flag award specifically for community groups that aims to celebrate groups that appropriately manage and meet the needs of the communities that they serve. Impressively, Fylde borough received a green flag award for six parks last year including Lytham War memorial park and the Promenade Gardens. Furthermore, the government’s Parks Working Group collaborates with key stakeholders to enhance park quality and sustainability, including representatives of the UK’s 6,000-plus friends groups.The government is working to improve access to blue spaces, including through the King Charles III England Coast Path, which will significantly enhance coastal access in Fylde. Proposals for the Cleveleys to Pier Head stretch — which includes a section passing through Fylde — have been approved, and work to establish the route is currently underway.

Communities and Local Government, how many projects have benefitted from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Lancashire.

We do not hold constituency level data, but Fylde Borough Council received a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocation between 2022-25. For 2025-26, in line with new devolution deals, funding will be allocated to Lancashire Combined Authority for the area. In Fylde Council, thirteen projects were supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) between 2022-25 and three new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26. Across Lancashire Combined Authority, 380 projects were supported by UKSPF between 2022-25 and 57 new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26.

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of implementing the policies in the Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 29 May 2025, on the number of additional people in employment in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.

The Department does not produce forecasts at parliamentary constituency, county or local authority level. However, we have evidence that delivering better and more tailored employment support can get more people off welfare, and into work - alongside a higher expectation to engage with that support. Therefore, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for sick and disabled people ever.

Whether he plans to build more community diagnostic centres.

The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out that we will deliver additional community diagnostic centre (CDC) capacity in 2025/26 by expanding several existing CDCs and building up to five new ones, as well as increasing the number of CDCs offering services 12 hours a day, seven days a week.NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for additional investment, including new CDCs. New CDCs should be positioned in a location that addresses local need and health inequalities. Details of future sites will be set out in due course.£1.65 billion of capital funding has been made available in 2025/26 for secondary and emergency care, which includes £0.6 billion for investment in diagnostics. This will enable the NHS to expand existing CDCs and build new CDCs as part of our Elective Reform Plan. It will also enable the completion of 2024/25 schemes.The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective and urgent care capacity, including the £1.65 billion investment already announced. Further details and allocations will be set out in due course.

Communities and Local Government, how many projects have benefitted from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Fylde constituency.

We do not hold constituency level data, but Fylde Borough Council received a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocation between 2022-25. For 2025-26, in line with new devolution deals, funding will be allocated to Lancashire Combined Authority for the area. In Fylde Council, thirteen projects were supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) between 2022-25 and three new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26. Across Lancashire Combined Authority, 380 projects were supported by UKSPF between 2022-25 and 57 new projects are forecasted to receive funding in 2025-26.

What estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) health-related and (b) disability benefits in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire from 2025-26 to 2029-30 inclusive.

The Department does not produce forecasts of benefit expenditure at parliamentary constituency, county, or local authority level. Forecasts for health-related and disability benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Universal Credit (UC) are produced at a national level and are published every Autumn and Spring in our Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables. These forecasts are based on national caseload trends, policy assumptions, and economic conditions. While constituency and county-level data is available for some benefits, it is not used to produce localised expenditure forecasts as numerous forecast assumptions would need to be made at these localised levels, requiring local intelligence and knowledge of local factors, vastly increasing the amount of resource needed to produce such forecasts.

Pursuant to the Answer to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, what steps he is taking to help ensure that rural agricultural communities have equitable access to the 8,500 new mental health support workers.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, will the national network of Young Futures hubs include rural-focused outreach to help tackle the challenges faced by young people growing up in farming families.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 55130 on Farmers: Mental Health Services, what (a) metrics and (b) evaluation frameworks are being used to assess the effectiveness of current mental health interventions in farming communities.

National Health Service metrics and evaluation frameworks set up to measure effectiveness in mental health services do not specifically assess interventions in farming communities. NHS England currently publishes access and waiting time metrics in line with national standards for NHS Talking Therapies, children and young people with an eating disorder and Early Intervention in Psychosis. In addition, since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to increase transparency and drive improvements in the quality of data and help services to target the longest waits. We have confirmed our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 additional mental health staff by the end of the Parliament. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside a refreshed workforce plan, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course. With regard to the roll out Young Futures hubs in communities in England, these will be designed with local areas, leveraging local understanding of services in each area. Young Futures Hubs will develop from existing buildings and provision, identified by local areas. This will make best use of existing local assets and the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support.